Heat routs Pistons 92-65 with Beasley out, others ailing

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — It was bizarro lineup night for the Miami Heat at the Palace.

Joel Anthony lined up with the starters.

Jamaal Magloire opened the second quarter alongside Jermaine O'Neal.

Daequan Cook played minutes that mattered.

Dorell Wright was cast as the primary ballhandler even when paired with a point guard.

Dwyane Wade watched the entire second and fourth quarters from the bench.

And O'Neal and Mario Chalmers made visits to the X-ray room.

And here you thought life with Michael Beasley was bizarre existence.

With its starting power forward sidelined by a hyperextended right knee, and the injury bug not stopping with Beasley, the Heat took a distinctive path to Friday's 92-65 victory over the Detroit Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

"That's probably the definition of a team win," coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We didn't know what to expect, who could play from one quarter to the next."

The 65 points were the fewest against the Heat this season. The previous low was 70 by the Utah Jazz. The Heat's largest victory over the Pistons had been a 24-point margin in 1995. It also was the Heat's largest road victory in Spoelstra's two seasons as coach.

"I didn't want our focus coming in trying to make up those points of our second-leading scorer," Spoelstra said of turning the focus to the defense amid Beasley's absence.

Despite losing O'Neal briefly in the first quarter with a hyperextended left knee and then losing Chalmers in the second for the balance of the night with a jammed left thumb, the Heat managed to avoid falling back to .500 through swarming defense and productive 3-point shooting, including 4 of 5 from Wade.

Chalmers sustained ligament damage and will miss Saturday's game in Milwaukee, and possibly additional time.

Wade, whose back locked up at the end of the first quarter, loosened up enough at halftime to return for an 11-point third quarter, closing with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting in a scant 24 minutes.

"It was something that happened in the Toronto game," Wade said of Wednesday's loss to the Raptors. "It just stiffened up on me."

With Beasley out, O'Neal pushed through his injury to 10 points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes, his ninth double-double of the season, one more than he had all of last season. Udonis Haslem further bolstered the power rotation with 16 points.

From there, in one of his finest mix-and-match efforts of the season, Spoelstra got enough from Dorell Wright, Quentin Richardson and Daequan Cook to allow the Heat to move to 24-22. Wright finished with 12 points.

Before the game, Spoelstra said, "We're going to have to do this the 'Miami Heat way.' "

That message of defensive grit kicked in at the start of the third quarter, when the Pistons scored just two points over the first 6:22 of the second half. Detroit shot 4 of 18 in the third, outscored 24-12 in the period, as the Heat took a 71-48 lead into the fourth.

The 12 points tied for the lowest-scoring quarter against the Heat this season.

With Beasley out, Wade correctly predicted it would take more than the usual cast of characters.

"Games like this, especially this time of year, you've got to have more coming off the bench," he said. "It's the time of the year when guys have to take it upon themselves to step up and make a change when coming into the lineup."

Friday, there was plenty of change, just about all for the better.

As for the Pistons? Just more of the same, with Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince sells of their former championship selves, combining for a mere 18 points.